The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1887-07-15
COST OF LIVING IN LONDON.
Hints to Yankees Who Co to Eng
land.

If Yankee travellers intend to remain in
London for more than very few days, it is
really worth their while to move out of their
hotels and find private apartments. The
system is novel to us, and it is interesting on
that account, beside being exceedingly econ
omical A couple of pounds:a week-say
S10-will find as good set of rooms as one
would care to occupy. and if one chooses to
have his meals served in the house, he may
do so at comparatively trifing expense. He
has simply to give his order every morning
for whatever he chooses for breakfast and
dinner, and his landlady purchases the ma
terials and prepares them for the table.
When she presents her bill, she charges sim
ply for the raw material, in addition to some
trifling outlay lfor cooking and so on. The
total sum, however, is pretty light. Allow
ing $40 a week for therooms, a man ought to
be able to live pretty well in apartments in
London at gross weekly outlay of less than
$25. But if he is a stranger. and is not post
ed in these matters, he is likely to remain at
his hotel, and spend about as much money as
he would in America. l knew chap who
lived here in London for some time, and who
was bowling swell, too, at the rate of
about $40 a week. He hired a furnished
house, for which he paid $40 weekly. 1t was
not large house, but it was very pretty in
deed. and was very comfortably fitted up.
His cook cost him So month. and his cham
bermaid S4 month. He had a boy in but
tons, whose wages were something like 50
monthly, and he had an arrangement with
neighboring livery stable that was certainly
neat. Under this arrangement he was al
ways able to command the use of the same
driver. He furnished the livery, which did
not cost him very much. and all he paid for
the privilege of running this exceedingly
high toned equipage was 62 cents an hour for
such time as he had it in use He was. in the
manner described, enabled to go about and
cut dash at about one-third of what il
would have cost him to make similar dis
play in an American CITY, But this particu-
lar man had studied the ways and surround
ings of his neighbors, and he got on very
much better than most of his countrymen
would have done under the same circum-
stances.
The point that most forcibly strikes Amer
leans coming over here is the wonderful
cheapness Of clothing. l met Mr. Albert
Weber, the piano manufacturer, yesterday.
discovery he had made only day or two
before. Said he, II have found a tailor
down in Fleet street whose specially Is the
manufacturer of trousers. Precisely the
same article for which ! pay S12 to
SIG pair in New York, have been
just ordered 20 pairs for a starter" This
percentage of reduction Is, of course, much
larger than the general run. At the same
time clothing in England Is vastly less ex-
pensive than it is with us. For instance, of
first class tailor, the other day, bought an
exceptionally handsome light overcoat, lined
throughout with silk and especially gotten
up in all directions. The price was $25. In
America, it would have been sixty dollars, IL
purchased in the shop of tailor of similar
standing. 1t is fact that clothing generally
in London costs not quite one-half as much
as IN New York or Boston. On the other
hand, English-made clothes do not as a rule
fit as well as those manufactured in Ameri-
ca. 1t is not that the tailors of the English
metropolis are less capable Of good work
than those in the best cities of America.
The fact simply Is, that Englishmen do mot
like to have their clothes set upon them as
snugly as is the vogue in America, and
British tailors accordingly make all their
garments with plenty of room in them. The
proceeding is sensible Ii not picturesque